In 1983 World Class Championship Wrestling and its franchise stars, the Von Erich brothers, were known around the world. A small Dallas based promotion running out of a shack of a venue, the Sportatorium, World Class was ... more &raquoone of the most syndicated television programs in America, making the Von Erichs household names. Run by legendary wrestler Fritz Von Erich, a.k.a. Jack Adkinsson, World Class made his oldest sons, Kevin, David and Kerry, three of hte biggest stars in the world of wrestling. Little did anyone know that just as the Von Erichs and World Class were reaching worldwide stardom they would begin a downfall that would cast a full eclipse on their meteoric rise to fame. Directed by Brian Harrison who, as a ten year old in 1983, watched on television as wrestling's world of staged combat between good and evil took a sharp turn into a surreal and tragic reality. Harrison heads to Texas to find his childhood hero, Kevin Adkisson, a.k.a. Kevin Von Erich, the oldest and sole surviving Von Erich brother. Harrison pays tribute to the prime years of this legendary era and its fallen stars.&laquo less

Movie Reviews

A great movie about one of the most pioneering promotions in

The Phantom Wizard | North Potomac, Maryland United States | 03/24/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I had only previously heard about World Class Championship Wrestling through reading about it on internet websites. One of the things that always struck me what what happened to the Von Erich (a.k.a. Adkisson) family and the tragedy that befell them during the years when WCCW was going through its downward spiral. What director Brian Harrison has done is nothing less than a triumph.

The movie takes a look at World Class' humble beginnings as a territory for the National Wrestling Alliance called Southwest Sports. It then advances to its heyday in the early 80s, when it got so enormously popular that it even started to outdraw Saturday Night Live in Dallas. It also became very popular in Israel, where the Von Erichs and announcer Bill Mercer were the four most popular entertainment personalities in the country (although in the movie, Mercer admits sarcastically that he didn't like being number four). According to the Wrestling Observer newsletter, their ratings were so good, they even outdrew the WWF (now WWE) in Boston (which is traditionally a WWF stronghold).

Many personalities were interviewed in the movie. From manager/booker "Playboy" Gary Hart, to the wrestlers who were a part of the promotion, like Chris Adams and Skandor Akbar. Highlights including the famous Von Erichs - Freebirds feud that lit the Dallas territory on fire during 1982 to 1984. Included in the footage of the famous moment where Terry Gordy slammed the cage door in the face of Kerry Von Erich on Christmas day 1982, which practically started the feud. Also interesting is ther perspective of Mickey Grant, the producer of the WCCW TV show, in that he came up with many revolutionary ways (at the time) to film the action for television.

Of course, this story takes the sad turn. Many of the deaths from World Class, including those of the Von Erichs are highlighted. This leads to the belief that there might be a "curse" over the workers of the promotion.

What really makes this DVD great is Kevin Adkisson (Kevin Von Erich). The movie really is worth buying to see what Kevin's persepctive was when he was seeing his brothers and his father die. Kevin doesn't pull any punches and it is worth the price to see the footage where he goes back to the Dallas Sportatorium before it was torn down.

Now the WWE is going to have their own documentary on the promotion now that the tape library of WCCW has been sold to them. So their documentary will have the political spin. Apparently, the documentary that the WWE will produce will make the Freebirds responsible for the great run in the early 80s when it was more than that. So the reason that people should get this video is that they should a more balanced view of what made this promotion so great, only to have it go down in a blaze of glory.

The only gripe I have about the set is that it doesn't have any matches. It shouldn't deter anyone from buying a great movie about a great wrestling promotion."

Great DVD

K. L. Jeffrey | Michigan | 02/23/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a fan of 1980's wrestling this DVD provides an entertaining and remarkable look at World Class Championship Wrestling. I remember WCCW only from watching it on ESPN and reading about it Pro Wrestling Illustrated, but to see the innovations that this territory brought to the wrestling landscape are incredible to say the least. Like most wrestling documentaries tragedy seems to overshadow the good feelings you get from the dvd. The whole Von Erich story is incredible to see an entire family to end in tragedy except for one surving member. The second dvd in the set is great for the audio from wrestling experts and hearing stars such as Jim Cornette describe their time in World Class Championship Wrestling."

Even Sadder Than I had Imagined

Movie Madman | Nashville, TN | 10/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Growing up as Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. were battling the Four Horseman in the NWA, I had barely even heard of the WCCW and only read of the Von Erich family, usually in regard to the Von Erich curse. After veiwing the trailer for this DVD, I had to check it out. This is extremely well done and ranks right up there with the best wrestling documentaries that I have ever seen(in no order; Beyond the mat, Forever Hardcore, Rise and Fall of ECW, Ric Flair and the Four Horseman). It could be the best. I watched the 2 1/2 hour documentary, then I watched it again. Non wrestling fans actually sat through it and enjoyed it. The story is just so compelling and tragic.

The filmmakers have done a great job in gaining access to the WCCW video library before WWE snatched it for their own use. Being able to get some good information from Kevin made all the difference in the world. Unfortunately, in exchange for that access, you could tell that the director chose to lay off the criticism of the Von Erich family. I have heard they were all on drugs constantly and often missed matches or showed up drunk. No mention of that at all. I think Ricky Morton (Rock n Roll express) mentioned he once had to go and bust out a truck window to get Kerry out of the truck where he was passed out so they could have their match. This documentary doesn't really dwell on the drug abuse much expect to justify some of the suicides.

Overall, the documentary gets up close to the people who lived it and created it and they seemed genuine in their responses to relive the past for us for a couple of hours. The documentary does a good job of taking us chronologically through the years until the organization crumbles and way too many great wrestlers pass away. I would say this one is a MUST SEE dvd for any wrestling fan.